From the WSJ:
House Republicans Plan to Wind Down Fannie, Freddie
Congressional Republicans said Thursday that they would introduce legislation to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over five years and cede the companies’ roles to the private mortgage market, which has remained mostly dormant since melting down six years ago.
The bill would create a new utility-like platform for investors to securitize mortgages without a government guarantee, while repealing new curbs on the mortgage-bond market in the Dodd-Frank financial-overhaul bill. It also proposes restricting access to loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration to first-time buyers and moderate-income borrowers.
The measure will face stiff opposition from Democrats and isn’t likely to be considered by the Senate, even if it can pass the House of Representatives. But it nevertheless sets out a marker from which Republicans can begin negotiations on the overhaul of the nation’s $10 trillion mortgage market.
The bill tees up a long-awaited fight over the future of the government’s role in the mortgage market. Fannie and Freddie don’t buy mortgages but instead package them into securities, providing guarantees to investors should the loans default. Their role helped create deep, liquid markets that attracted an array of investors to fund U.S. mortgages, particularly long-term, fixed-rate loans that banks don’t like to hold on their books.
…
Democrats and some moderate Republicans, along with mortgage investors and the real-estate industry, have argued that some federal guarantees of the mortgage-bond market will be needed to preserve the most popular aspects of the U.S. mortgage market—particularly access to the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage, a product that isn’t widely offered in most other countries, and the ability to lock in a mortgage rate.
…
In addition to Fannie and Freddie, the Republican bill proposes several changes to the Federal Housing Administration. The FHA, which has played a key role backstopping mortgages after the private-mortgage market collapsed in 2007, has faced rising defaults and is at heightened risk of exhausting its reserves for the first time in its 79-year history.The proposal would limit FHA-backed loans to first-time borrowers and to moderate-income borrowers, defined as those who make less than 115% of the area median household income and 150% of the median income in high-cost markets.
The bill would increase down-payment requirements for the FHA, which currently allows a 3.5% minimum down payment, to 5% for non-first-time borrowers. The FHA, which doesn’t make loans but instead backs those that meet its standards, would also be required to reduce the amount of its insurance coverage to 50% over five years.
Thought that headline was a great way to get the blood pumping on a Friday morning!
From Curbed NY:
Brooklyn Sale Prices Set Records In Q2, Queens Benefits
Attention, New Yorkers who still think Brooklyn is an affordable alternative to Manhattan: stop deluding yourselves. The second quarter market reports for Brooklyn and Queens show that’s no longer the way of the real estate world. “Brooklyn has evolved into a destination market and is standing on its own,” says Jonathan Miller, appraiser and Elliman report preparer. “While there is Manhattan spillover from people that are priced out, many buy there because it’s ‘Brooklyn.'” And Brooklyn comes at an ever-increasing price. Median and average sale prices set record highs, rising 15 and 14 percent respectively to $550,000 and $672,000. In new developments, prices are even higher, according to Corcoran’s report, rising to $834,000 compared to $756,000 during the same period last year. At the high end of the market, things rose even more; the luxury median sale price increased 20 percent to $1.65 million. Everything is on the up and up because inventory continues its downward spiral, dropping more than 18 percent to the lowest second quarter level in five years.
Because prices keep climbing in Brooklyn, the Queens market is picking up speed. “Queens is the beneficiary since people that are being priced out of Brooklyn are considering Queens,” says Miller. “While Brooklyn has been strong for a few years, Queens is just getting started, posting a couple of strong quarters and is benefiting from Brooklyn’s strength.” Inventory in Queens is still falling (as it is in the whole region), sitting steady at an 8-year low. Sales increased quite a bit in Q2, making for the fastest absorption rate in five years. Median sale price rose nearly 10 percent to $390,000, while the average rose a tad more than 10 percent to $441,417. The luxury market kept pace, rising 9.1 percent to $900,000 (“What a steal!”—the immediate thought in our $95-million-listing-warped brains).
From Bloomberg:
Brooklyn Home Prices Rise to Record in N.Y. Sales Frenzy
Home prices in Brooklyn, New York’s most populous borough, surged to a record as low interest rates and rising rents across the city swelled demand for homeownership amid a dwindling supply of properties for sale.
The median price of condominiums, co-ops and one- to three-family homes that sold in the second quarter was $550,000, up 15 percent from a year earlier and the highest in more than a decade of record keeping, New York-based appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate said in a report today. The inventory of listings fell 19 percent to 4,704, the lowest for a second quarter since Miller Samuel began tracking the data in 2008, said Jonathan Miller, the firm’s president.
“You choke off supply, you have a slowly improving economy, and prices rise,” Miller said. “And then you compound it by widening your source of demand, when one of your competitors — Manhattan — is experiencing the same inventory problem.”
Rethugs and Dumbocrats both hate homeowners. GWB’s “ownership society” was straight out of the Goebbels playbook, and the Dumbs have helped cement millions into a cycle of poverty through their idiotic fair housing initiatives.
Both parties want you stupid, broke, trapped in place and in debt.
That is all.
4. Trapped is a state of mind. Even the caged bird sings.
Colgate closing plant in Morris
http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20130711/NJNEWS/307110044/Colgate-closing-plant-Morris
Please delete dups, they kept disappearing for some reason.
All if not most of Colgates products can be found below cost at any Indian Dollar store .
“The bill would increase down-payment requirements for the FHA, which currently allows a 3.5% minimum down payment, to 5% for non-first-time borrowers. The FHA, which doesn’t make loans but instead backs those that meet its standards, would also be required to reduce the amount of its insurance coverage to 50% over five years”
It is a joke to call a person with 3.5% down, no other assets, who can walk away without recourse from mortgage a “homeowner”
Overall in spite of all our RE investment strategies, the best bet would have been from April 2009 to March 2013 to just put downpayments on new condo developments in Brooklyn, Long Island City and Manhattan. Some since the bottom have raised prices as much as 13 times in last four years. And rents have gone through roof. Plus no actual work involved Plus the tax abatement on new developments in New York City means you pay basically no property tax for quite a long while.
And talk about Liquid. No need for a realtor. Once you get finished unit do a NY Times ad for a open house, maybe hire a bouncer or two for crowd control and take highest cash offer after bidding frenzy
Colgate-Palmolive will close its 60-year-old East Hanover Avenue site.
No suprise East Hanover is now loaded with Indians who dont bath or brush their teeth, they need to make that place a curry shop or something
I’m going to Carolina in my mind.
Hey if the plant has floor drains and two story manufacturing floors they could put a craft brewery in there. Or maybe an aquaponics facility. don’t know what it is look it up.
Big question do they rename mennen arena now?
Grim now if the goverment would get out of the student loan business we may start to have some semblance of a free market. Well that is once they get out of the farm, energy and automotive industries.
Nevermind we’re still f*cked
Grim [2];
Run of the mill oversold realtor trope, but unfortunately some people will drink the kool aid. After grossly overpaying, buyer must convince self that they’re happy with what they bought. Its an ego defense mechanism.
Not Stockholm Syndrome, call it Brooklyn Syndrome.
Re: [9];
Most of Colgate’s growth potential is LatAm. The market is not already saturated like the US, the weather is hot, every building is not air conditioned and people still do manual labor == sweat.
Many of Colgate’s products are purchased on the grey market in various countries and shipped back to the Dollar Stores here in Edison, etc,
Take a look at the directions , in various languages
After grossly overpaying, buyer must convince self that they’re happy with what they bought. Its an ego defense mechanism.
An auto industry advertising exec once told me, car commercials don’t exist to sell cars, car commercials exist to make the recent buyer feel good about their purchase.
I listed my place last week and got a few inquiries. I am using a realtor and doing it direct. Realtor told me lets get this done. I dont have to give her a commission if I sell on my own, but going to cut her in anyhow so as not to burn bridges as she is working too.
I love two folks who called me. Both are asking me questions and dont telling me much about themselves. What do they think I am running a Marriott?
I want non-smoking, non-pet owning, educated, professional waspy/jappy/preppie type folk. No group shares, no unrelated people. This is my first time doing it and place is all redone and I cant have trouble with neighbors. No one has ever done this before on my block so I want to make it a good experience.
My favorite email I got was from some lady which looked like a made up name in my opinion. Like Betty Crocker, Susan White, so I right click on the email to properties and the address comes up praiseallah something. I am like Really. Planes fly over unit and I have a deck up top maybe he is planning on shooting down some jets or something.
So far I have 8 folks who want to rent it I am picking best tenant regardless of price. So far I have a super loaded lady I have references for who is near the lowest rent. But she rents every year for two weeks in town so she is known and it is just her and her daughter. Two folks.
It goes to show economy is strong. Or it just shows lots of units got killed in Sandy so less inventory and I have a smaller place which means small groups 1-5 can rent entire place which is rare as either you have huge expensive houses or little illegal apt cutouts. Not whole place for four people. Plus oddly I noticed folks can charge less. Us new folks bought places for 200K less than the Spring 2004 to Spring 2008 places and I say most put a big down payment or cash. Post RE meltdown it was a min of 40% down on a vacation home. And rates were low.
Crazy. 500K tiny beach house/condo bought back at peak you put 20% down and you got a mortgage of 400K or $2,000 mortgage (not including tax/insurance)
Same house in 2012/2013 is 300K with 40% down and a lower mortgage rate is around $600 a month. Crazy. How can the 2003 to 2009 folk compete with the post bubble and prebubble crowd. My little place I say 70% of units have no mortgage. After crash they stopped doing mortgages on my place so new folks bought for cash cheap. The older folks who bought between 1979 and 1999 paid peanuts and mortgages are long gone. The few fools between Spring 2003 and Spring 2008 who bought at peak with Mortgages, OMG. They cant refinance. Only choice is to walk away or keep paying. Each month gets harder and harder to walk away. Folks who bought Summer 2003 are ten years into that mess.
RE is still sick. However, at same time it is very healthy. Unlike 2004 when the tide lifted all boats, this time folks who bought Spring 2003-Spring 2008 bought titanics that will never float.
Is Jamie Dimon all happy this morning with his results?
People buy cars full well knowing they are losing money. At best they want a car that depreciates a little slower, less to repair, less to insure or cheaper, cheaper lease or loan rate. That is all you can do to help slow the loss. For instance I bought my wifes truck with zero down and a six year zero loan and I got a deal on a 7 year warranty. I told wife come hell or high water you have that car for 7 years at a minimun. And then you dont need a truck anymore so next vehicle is a lesser priced car. No more Denalis. I could only talk my wife into keeping nicer car twice as long as cheaper car. I was under no illusions a car purchase was a wise financial decision.
Homes people only buy if they think they will go up in value.
grim says:
July 12, 2013 at 9:16 am
After grossly overpaying, buyer must convince self that they’re happy with what they bought. Its an ego defense mechanism.
An auto industry advertising exec once told me, car commercials don’t exist to sell cars, car commercials exist to make the recent buyer feel good about their purchase.
freedy says:
July 12, 2013 at 9:23 am
Is Jamie Dimon all happy this morning with his results?
NO Stock is Down. They did not beat the whisper numbers by enough. Jaimie will be happy when it is 1,000 a shares.
I am not happy with the numbers at all. I own 100K worth of Chase stock so he owes me to do his job.
“Both parties want you stupid, broke, trapped in place and in debt.”
Should be placed on our currency instead of In God We Trust.
Ragnar,
re: Robert A. Heinlein
You, Polanski and all pedophiles must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
http://thecounterfeitreport.com/product/116/
freedy says:
July 12, 2013 at 9:05 am
Many of Colgate’s products are purchased on the grey market in various countries and shipped back to the Dollar Stores here in Edison, etc,
Take a look at the directions , in various languages
[23] anon,
I’m curious about what you want to prosecute Ragnar for? The crime of not being an uber-liberal?
Sorry, you aren’t quite there when it comes to prosecuting your enemies for Crimes Against the State. The Glorious November Revolution hasn’t brought your ilk into full power. Yet.
In the meantime, you are left with character assassination, occupy-type actions, propaganda and misrepresentation, questionable legislation and litigation, siccing the bureacracy on them, and all the usual rhetorical fallacies practiced by Daily Kos, Firedoglake, Current, MSNBC, and yourself.
On a much more important topic, Twinkies are coming back, and coming first to Wal-Mart!!!!! Oh, the irony.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100882342
And further irony: according to this story, the unions rejected $15 per hour for workers. Those that were rehired are making $11 per hour. Good job there, local!
14 & 17
DAVE: Commerce Department…
SECRETARY OF COMMERCE: Yes, Mr. President.
DAVE: You’re spending forty-three million dollars on an ad campaign to… ‘Boost consumer confidence in the American auto industry.’
SECRETARY OF COMMERCE: And it’s proving quite effective…
DAVE: Does it make the cars any better?
SECRETARY OF COMMERCE: No, sir. It’s more of a perceptual issue.
DAVE: Perceptual?
SECRETARY OF COMMERCE: Yes, it’s designed to bolster individual confidence in a previous domestic automotive purchase.
DAVE: So we’re spending forty-seven million dollars to make people feel better about a car they’ve already bought?
SECRETARY OF COMMERCE: Yes, but I wouldn’t characterize it…
DAVE: Well I’m sure that’s really important
20
Unless you buy a car to fix up and resell, you don’t lose money. It is an expense. Same applies to housing.
Losses are not expenses.
Timmy is back in town. I gather he won’t be buying a place on 5th ave.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/wp/2013/07/11/timothy-geithner-sells-bethesda-home/?wprss=rss_style&clsrd
Only quirk in tax law I notices is I have seen folks with small business buy classic cars. For instance a guy I know has a wedding limo business. Talk about a scam. He buys lets say a white 1952 Rolls, or the place near me that sells seafood, I always notice he buys 1950s-1980s pick up trucks for his business, quirky but they work and then they depreciate them via IRS rules but unlike new vehicles they dont depreciate they appreciate so then they sell them in penny saver or newspaper and of course new buyer asks for a receipt for like $100 to $500 so he avoids sales tax and owner pockets the money. One guy in HS was always driving classic cars as he used to joke I cant afford to drive new cars.
Only car I ever made money off was my Benz I lost in Sandy. I had classic car insurance on it I took out in 1993 for my purchase price. When I got paid out I was surprised how much I got. I was told your car on average appreciates 3% a year so you got 20 years worth of appreciation compounded. Car was not in particular good shape pre-sandy. But apparantly cars under five feet of salt water overnight hard to tell three weeks later what condtion it was in. But that was luck. I lost money on my other two cars.
joyce says:
July 12, 2013 at 10:47 am
20
Unless you buy a car to fix up and resell, you don’t lose money. It is an expense. Same applies to housing.
Losses are not expenses.
Wake me up when Geethner’s next home is a 5′ x 9′ in Leavenworth.
[27] joyce,
I loved that scene
Scrapple,
You don’t want him in a 4′ x 12′ … 6′ deep ?
I spend a fair amount of time every day dealing with the fallout of the creation of the entitlement class. My duties basically consist of telling these mumbling bags of blood that we don’t sell Bud tall boys and 40s.
In no way do I blame most of these people. They never had a chance from the get.
Drive by Dickinson or Ferris HS one day at 3 PM. You’ll want to slash your wrists after about 10 minutes.
joyce (33)-
No. I want him alive and miserable. Preferably with a new “wife”, too.
Abbott mandate for JC per-pupil spending is over 17K. Somebody tells me where this loot really goes.
Comrade,
Also this scene:
MURRAY: I gotta tell ya, Dave. I’ve been going over this a bunch of times and a lot of this stuff just doesn’t add up… I mean, if I ran my business this way, I’d be out of business. Who does these books?
DAVE: I’m not sure.
MURRAY: I just think they make this stuff a lot more complicated than it has to be.
DAVE: I’m not surprised.
Scrap I think he would be the wife in the relationship. Timmy is a delicate flower.
Why dont you sell tall boys? I like the 24 ounce Bud tall boys they sell in Penn, two in the bag with ice, perfect amount of beer.
16 ounces is such a nancy boy tall boy
Scrapple n’Ricin says:
July 12, 2013 at 11:17 am
I spend a fair amount of time every day dealing with the fallout of the creation of the entitlement class. My duties basically consist of telling these mumbling bags of blood that we don’t sell Bud tall boys and 40s.
Joyce [37];
I heard recently about the farm bill in Congress: There are only three people who know how farm subsidies work in this country, and that’s just the way they like it.
Charlie Gasparino on WNYC pushing his book. He’s on minute twenty of arguing hard for insider trading, which is a victimless crime. Shlubs and pedestrian rubes “were going to sell a stock anyway”. Strange.
Oddest part about insider trading is the crook and criminal can be same person.
Martha Stewart traded on insider information meanwhile she sold at a loss and stock recovered. Whoever bought the stock she sold made money. Never the less in insider trading, make money, lose money, break even still the same in the eyes of the law
zieba says:
July 12, 2013 at 12:26 pm
Charlie Gasparino on WNYC pushing his book. He’s on minute twenty of arguing hard for insider trading, which is a victimless crime. Shlubs and pedestrian rubes “were going to sell a stock anyway”. Strange.
What have I done to deserve prosecution? I’m not establishing a nonprofit group to spread better ideas.
Is Cozine going to be on? That would be great to get his views
“Abbott mandate for JC per-pupil spending is over 17K. Somebody tells me where this loot really goes.”
No-bid contracts and no-show/no-work jobs for the friends and family of the school board.
Farm bills are proof that most Repub talk about free markets is empty rhetoric
Rethugs talk free markets. Free markets are ok with them…as long as their benefactors get the inside track first.
Rags [46];
“Republican” is definitely a genus, not a species. There are the social conservatives, the more libertarian-minded; the country-club republicans, the ‘chamber of commerce’ republicans. The thing is that, by and large, the all tend to have self-sustaining employment. Compare and contrast occupy, and the permanent clients of the liberal welfare state.
Anyway, farm subsidy is definitely a form of corporate welfare. They may wear coveralls and have sh!t on their boots, but the ‘family farmer’ likely owns seven figures worth of land.
LOL! I read the gratuitous headline (Republicans hate…) and what sprang to mind was “We’ll that means they hate Freddie and Fannie, because they are the real homeowners” I guess that was the gist/joke.
11 Ways to Get to the Hamptons
It’s a Friday afternoon in the summer, and somewhere east of Mastic there’s a margarita with your name on it. But before the weekend can officially begin, you need to get there from here.
1. Helicopter
Sound Aircraft Services (631-537-2202 or 800-443-0031; one-way fare is $435; 45 minutes) departs on Fridays from the Wall Street heliport at 5:15 p.m. and from the East 34th Street heliport at 6:15 p.m.; returns from East Hampton airport at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday or 7:45 a.m. on Monday. There’s a five-passenger maximum, so book early. Also available: five-person chartered helicopters for $2,100 each way.
3. Yellow Cab
Yes, it’s been done. Taxi rides beyond the city limits are negotiated —try to talk him down to under $350.
4. Blimp
Right now, the only customers the Lightship Group (407-363-7777) has are corporate advertisers. But think about it: For a mere $200,000 a month (three-month minimum), this ride can be yours. It would take three hours to get to East Hampton Airport at a cruising speed of 32 mph, carries four passengers (or two parents and two children), and is at your disposal 24/7. Price includes crew, maintenance, helium, hangar fees, and hotel accommodations for the ground crew. And it lights up at night. Oh, the amenities! For more information, visit http://www.lightships.com.
5. Speedboat
No one in the city rents high-performance speedboats for more than a day, but for less than $20,000 you can buy your own twenty-one or twenty three-foot Yamaha LX2000 from Staten Island Kawasaki (718-447-2020). Weather permitting, you can hit speeds of up to 70 mph and be in Hampton Bays in an hour and a half.
6. Rail
Still the cheapest and least likely to incur delays. The LIRR Montauk Line makes five daily trips (718-217-5477 or 631-231-5477; round-trip fare is $38 peak, $26 off-peak; two hours and 40 minutes to Southampton). FYI: The Cannonball Express departs Penn Station at 3:58 p.m. on Fridays and gets you there in two hours. Reserving a seat (718-558-8070) costs $30 ($17 seat charge; $13 ticket). For more information, visit http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us.
7. Bus
This can take anywhere from an hour and a half during off-peak times to three and a half hours or more during the rush hours. There are two rival services now. Hampton Luxury Liner (631-537-5800, http://www.hamptonluxuryliner.com; $28 one-way, $52 round-trip; daily), the new kid on the L.I.E., is positioning itself as a first-class alternative to the Hampton Jitney. The buses are the same size, but with half the number of passengers there’s more legroom, and every row has its own TV screen for the in-transit movie. On the Jitney (631-283-4600 or 800-936-0440, http://www.hamptonjitney.com; round-trip fare is $47; twenty-four trips daily) you can bring a pet, in a lap-size carry case, for a $10 fee. The Jitney’s Ambassador Service offer leather seats, more legroom and an attendant serving complimentary refreshments and snacks ($35 one-way, $60 round-trip).
8. Limo
Starlight Limousine service (800-800-7440, http://www.starlightlimo.com) offers a ’33 Packard that fits four for $450 plus gratuity each way. Not impressive enough? Its 35-foot Hummer can bring you and twenty friends out over the traffic for $900 plus gratuity one way. Bob Marc Limousine (631-586-2490, http://www.bobmarclimo.com) charges $700 one way for a ten-person stretch with hot tub, so you can pull over and wait out the traffic with a dip. It’s also equipped with PlayStation and three TVs and DVD players.
9. Yacht
A three-day, all-expenses-included charter of a 100-foot motor yacht runs about $18,000 at CharterTime (800-577-0566, http://www.chartertime.com). A leisurely fifteen knots an hour will take you through Plum Gut and the Fish Tails to the Hamptons in eight hours—a cozy way for six friends to begin the weekend. Perks include an on-board chef, a full bar, and private staterooms with beds.
10. Seaplane
Pack light (most folks bring only a book or newspaper) and absolutely no hidden golf clubs—apparently this is a big issue (there’s a 20 lbs max.) and the crew has gotten quite good at uncovering hidden woods and irons. Sound Aircraft Services (631-537-2202 or 800-443-0031; one-way fare is $365; 45 minutes to East Hampton Airport) has three departures on Thursday (3, 5, 7 p.m.) and four on Friday (1, 3, 5, 7 p.m.)from the East 23rd Street floating marina, and two returns late Sunday afternoon (4:30 and 6:30 p.m.) and two on Monday morning (7:15 and 9:15 a.m.)from East Hampton Airport. Planes max out at nine passengers, so reserve early.
11. Chartered Helicopter
You can charter your own whirlybird through Helicopter Flight Services (888-933-5969, http://www.heliny.com). The Bell 206 Long Ranger carries six people with light luggage and costs $2,245, plus landing fee, each way to East Hampton Airport. Another outfit, Liberty Helicopter Tours (888-692-4354, http://www.libertyhelicopters.com), charters a seven-person A-Star for $2,100 each way; and you’re welcome to bring booze onboard.
anyone know any non fannie/freddie lenders in the area? I’m looking for a mortgage off my own income but its not enough to qualify based on the lending guidelines. Meanwhile, I probably have enough assets to pay off 85% of the loan I’m looking to take out tomorrow. I was basically told, it doesn’t matter if I have a million dollars, the loan limit is dependent on income and income alone. I think that is kinda silly given when a potential borrower has two decades worth of potential mortgage payments sitting idle.
I know there are some Glen Ridge experts here –
Any thoughts/advice on buying there: better/worse side of town etc?
or anything that someone new to the area should know?
Buy .223, and prepare for the endtimes.
@ianbremmer: 1 in 9 US counties has a life expectancy lower than Nicaragua’s. #inequality
Here’s hoping anon’s life expectancy is even shorter.
[56] anon
So are you advocating involuntary euthanasia for the wealthy now?
(Formerly known as F1rstT1meBuyer) I posted a few weeks ago about a house I was under contract to buy in Fair Lawn. The dealbreaker for me at the time was the seller refusing to remove the decommissioned oil tank underground. Since then, they did agree to remove it (I offered to pay for half of the removal) and I’m happy to say, as of yesterday, I am a first time homeowner. I, unfortunately, was not handed keys at the end of the closing (as the sellers are still in the house til the end of the month) but I am relieved that this is done and over. I locked in my rate at 3.625% which was set to expire on July 15th so I’m glad we were able to close on time. Now I have to start looking for contractors to replace the flooring and to do a bathroom remodel. I can’t believe it…after lurking this blog for the last 5-6 years, I finally own 20% of a house.